Rick’s boss Danny is valiantly pumping at his colleague’s chest, grimacing as he pauses every few pumps to hold Rick’s nose and blow into his mouth. ‘Come on, come on …’ he is muttering, and he presses again and again and again.

I grasp his shoulder. ‘Danny, I can take over now. Let me see, please. Thank you.’

He lurches away and straight into the bathroom where I hear him vomiting. Poor guy. I’m trained for this kind of thing, but dealing with a dead body is never exactly fun and for someone who’s not used to it, it’s usually extremely traumatic.

I breathe in sharply as I see Rick’s face. I can tell at first glance that he’s beyond help – his eyes are open, staring and glassy. His body is in an unnatural position and while I am by no means a religious man, it’s usually somehow obvious when someone is dead – there’s something different about a dead body to a living one. Like there’s an element missing.

Nonetheless I go through my usual checks – feeling for a pulse and shining a light into Rick’s unresponsive eyes. His skin is already cooling and there’s no resistance in his limbs. As I suspected – knew – there is nothing that can be done. Feeling a little queasy, I gently close his eyes.

Danny comes out of the bathroom, wiping his mouth.

‘Is he …?’

‘’Fraid so.’

Already looking ropey, the colour drains even further from his face.

‘There was nothing that you or anyone else could have done,’ I add. ‘It was too late for that. You did well to have done what you did. To try. You should be proud of yourself. Not everyone would try to perform CPR. It takes bravery and a cool head.’

He nods, but doesn’t say anything. ‘Think I need some air,’ he mumbles, stumbling over to the balcony door and wrenching it open. Through the huge window I see him sink down onto a padded lounger and put his head in his hands.

Leo appears in the doorway looking grumpy and uncharacteristically dishevelled.

‘Bill tells me there’s a problem,’ he says.

A problem? That’s a bit of an understatement.

My mouth is dry and I swallow hard. ‘Yes. There’s no easy way to say this, but Rick’s dead. I can’t give an exact time of death, I’m afraid, but I’d say it was pretty recent.’

‘Oh God,’ he says, blanching as he hangs back, staring at the body. At Rick.

‘I’ll get a couple of the porters down here and have him moved to the mortuary,’ I continue. ‘Then in the morning I’ll make a start on the paperwork and get in touch with HR so they can contact his family and—’

‘What happened to him?’ Leo interrupts. ‘He’s a young man. Why did he die?’